Developer planning new shopping center at Disney's World Drive interchange

CDC Development has filed preliminary plans for a new shopping center at Disney's World Drive interchange in Celebration. (Osceola County)

Celebration could be getting a new grocery store and a host of shops and restaurants.

Civil/Site Engineering Inc.has filed a preliminary conceptual plan for a 21-acre shopping center on Disney property that would hug the World Drive exit ramp off Interstate 4 and look across to the iconic mouse ears power pole.

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The property is owned by The Celebration Company, a holding company headed by Geoff Goodman, senior vice president of Global Development for Disney.

The site plan indicates it was prepared for Walt Disney Imagineering, but Disney officials told GrowthSpotter the company is not involved in the development plans for the site.

The plan shows a layout of 11 buildings with more than 100,000 square feet combined. The largest is 23,560 square feet -- the typical footprint for North Carolina-based Earth Fare, which announced plans to open multiple stores in the Orlando market starting in Lake Mary with Griffin Farms at Midtown.

Other grocers that specialize in smaller footprint stores (20,000 SF or less) include Aldi and Trader Joe's. Grocery chain Lucky's Market, also entering the Orlando market, has a typical footprint of 30,000 square feet. Whole Foods is introducing a new 365 model with a recommended building size of 26,000 square feet.

The developer is scheduled to meet with Osceola County planning staff on April 20 to discuss the site plan. The shopping center would be anchored by a "neighborhood grocery store," according to the project description. Other buildings range in size from 4,516 square feet to 12,000 square feet.

The shopping center would be at the southern tip of the Celebration DRI, adjacent to the new Emerson Apartments. Disney sold that 28-acre parcel in 2013 for $4 million.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify that an outside developer filed the conceptual plan.